Embedded Software Technology Research Articles

Education of Embedded Software Technology through ET Robot Software Design Contest

Education of Embedded Software Technology through ET Robot Software Design Contest

A Study on the Data Compression Technology-Based Intelligent Data Acquisition (IDAQ) System for Structural Health Monitoring of Civil Structures.

In this paper, a data compression technology-based intelligent data acquisition (IDAQ) system was developed for structural health monitoring of civil structures, and its validity was tested using random signals (El-Centro seismic waveform). The IDAQ system was structured to include a high-performance CPU with large dynamic memory for multi-input and output in a radio frequency (RF) manner. In addition, the embedded software technology (EST) has been applied to it to implement diverse logics needed in the process of acquiring, processing and transmitting data. In order to utilize IDAQ system for the structural health monitoring of civil structures, this study developed an artificial filter bank by which structural dynamic responses (acceleration) were efficiently acquired, and also optimized it on the random El-Centro seismic waveform. All techniques developed in this study have been embedded to our system. The data compression technology-based IDAQ system was proven valid in acquiring valid signals in a compressed size.

Q&A with IRYStec

ID interviews Tara Akhavan, Simon Morris, and Afsoon Soudi, the principals of IRYStec, a Montreal‐based startup that makes Perceptual Display Platform (PDP), an embedded software technology that adjusts the characteristics of content displayed on devices to match how a viewer's eyes see it in different ambient light. IRYStec was founded by Akhavan and Soudi in Montreal, and closed its Series A financing round in June 2016.

Optimizing occupied memory of embedded software in the design phase

Nowadays, the optimizing embedded software plays an important role in the development of embedded software technology. The evaluation and optimization of embedded software in the design phase bring various benefits. In this paper, we propose a new method to optimize the occupied memory of embedded software in the design phase based on DSL, T4 and Topological sort. A program is specified as a chain of tasks and the relationship between the tasks. The program is expressed by the dependence graph as a directed graph. Each node in the directed graph describes a task, which consists of specification information such as name, input, output. Each edge describes the relationship between two tasks. The program working by order of tasks in the different Topological orders does not change the result, but the occupied memory and performances are different. From the dependence graph, we can find many topological orders, and each of them will have amount of occupied memory in difference. Therefore, we built a memory evaluation function to find the topological order that has the smallest amount of occupied memory.

Portable Embedded Data Display and Control Unit using CAN Bus

The development trend and research focus of control system is networked control. The Field Bus Control System (FCS) which is important segment in networked system is widely applied in control system. The CAN (Controller Area Network) bus which has strong fault tolerance, high reliability and low cost plays an important role in FCS. The CAN is a serial communication protocol which efficiently supports distributed real-time control with a very high level of security. Its domain of application ranges from high speed networks to low cost multiplex wiring. In automotive electronics, engine control units, sensors, anti-skid-systems, etc. are connected using CAN with bit rates up to 1M bit/s. This project is to develop an automatic monitor and control of any non-industrial process using a Portable Embedded data display and control unit based on CAN Bus. It is implemented by applying 16 bit RISC key microprocessor technique, embedded software technology, embedded GUI (Graphics User Interface) technology, CAN bus communication technology, information storage and management technology[6]. The Proposed system involves the CAN Protocol to communicate the data. The system consists of many nodes each comprising a PIC microcontroller and a sensor. The data is retrieved from the sensor and forwarded to a PIC microcontroller through a CAN transceiver. The PIC Microcontroller establishes connection with a CAN Protocol and process the sensor data and the data through the CAN Bus which is twisted pair of wires. Another PIC microcontroller at remote end is interfaced with LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) to view the sensor data and send back control signal to the sensor through CAN protocol. The research and development of this project was driven by robustness of CAN communication and its practicality of application.

6.3.4 Impact of Embedded Software Technology on Systems Engineering

AbstractSystems such as aircraft and consumer electronics have included embedded computers in their designs for several decades now. In these systems, software was usually treated as a component inside a box much the same way you would treat a circuit card assembly or a power supply. Requirements would flow down to the box specification and the box specification would then flow down to the components inside the box. But recently, several trends are changing the relationship between embedded software and the system as a whole. Many embedded computer systems now use network protocols and infrastructures similar to information systems deployed on commodity hardware. Systems with embedded computers now have expectations and requirements for extensibility similar to those of information systems where methodologies for extensibility are well established. But unlike information systems, systems with embedded software often have complex non‐software elements and the software is not loosely coupled with the hardware. These systems require a synthesis of approaches.

Replacement strategy for aging avionics computers

With decreasing defense dollars available to purchase new military aircraft, the inventory of existing aircraft will have to last many more years than originally anticipated. As the avionics computers on these aging aircraft get older, they become more expensive to maintain due to parts obsolescence. In addition, expanding missions and changing requirements lead to growth in the embedded software which, in turn, requires additional processing and memory capacity. Both factors, parts obsolescence and new processing capacity, result in the need to replace the old computer hardware with newer, more capable microprocessor technology. New microprocessors, however, are not compatible with the older computer instruction set architectures. This generally requires the embedded software in these computers to be rewritten. A significant savings-estimated in the billions of dollars-could be achieved in these upgrades if the new computers could execute the old embedded code along with any new code to be added. This paper describes a commercial-off-the-shelf (COTS)-based form, fit, function, and interface (F/sup 3/I) replacement strategy for legacy avionics computers that can reuse existing avionics code "as is" while providing a flexible framework for incremental upgrades and managed change. It is based on a real-time embedded software technology that executes legacy binary code on the latest generation COTS microprocessors. This technology promises performance improvements of 5-10 times that of the legacy avionics computer that it replaces. It also promises a 4/spl times/ decrease in cost and schedule over rewriting the code and provides a "known good" starting point for incremental upgrades of the embedded flight software. Code revalidation cost and risk are minimized since the structure of the embedded code is not changed, allowing the replacement computer to be retested at the "blackbox" level using existing qualification tests.